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Inhibition of In Vitro Splicing of a Group I Intron of Pneumocystis carinii
Author(s) -
LIU YONG,
TIDWELL RICHARD R.,
LEIBOWITZ MICHAEL J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1994.tb05931.x
Subject(s) - biology , pneumocystis carinii , pentamidine , intron , rna splicing , ethidium bromide , in vitro , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , virology , rna , pneumocystis jirovecii , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , dna , history , archaeology , pneumonia
Unlike its mammalian hosts, the opportunistic fungal pathogen Pneumocystis carinii harbors group I self‐splicing introns in its chromosomal genes encoding rRNA. This difference between pathogen and host suggests that intron splicing is a promising target for chemotherapy. We have found that intron splicing in vitro is inhibited by the anti‐ Pneumocystis agent pentamidine and by a series of pentamidine analogues, as well as by some aminoglycosides, tetracycline, L‐arginine and ethidium bromide. Further studies will be needed to determine if this is the mechanism of action of pentamidine against P. carinii .